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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Belle of the Ball

So, if you guys are wondering why I'm not posting much it's because this is a CRAZY period of time. Here is my schedule:

Wed - Present to AWG (Arlington Writer's Group) about the changing face of publication - they kept me there for several hours with GREAT questions and then I went out for desert/beer with them after - great group. Lots of fun

Thurs - Went to SWFA Nebula Weekend and brought books for Michael's book Signing

Fri (AM) - Did a workshop on TV interviews (part of SWFA Nebula Weekend) met some GREAT folks that put on FastForward - a cable access station where they interview authors etc. I got some great material from them which I'll be doing posts of soon.

Fri (PM) - Had a fabulous talk with Andrew Fox - author of "The Good Humor Man" - Might bring him on as a Ridan author. Started reading his book on trip to NY - very enjoyable so far.

Sat (all day) -wen to DIY Conference - met some "out of this world" people including some I'm already working with (Dan Blank) and some that I would like to work with who seem excited to do some joint ventures with. Plus was mobbed at lunch and after sessions from some really great people who asked my advice. If any of you come to the blog - stop by and say hi so I know who you are.

Sat Evening - caught a quick meal at a great diner (really great waitress - I LOVE great waitresses) then caught bus back to DC (which is where I am atm - with power and Internet.

Sun - Both Michael and myself have presentations at SWFA Nebula Awards Weekend - looking forward to sharing some of my knowledge with them.

Sun (evening) - Michael joins me for a trip back to Big Apple

Mon (all day) - Going to every session I can on the changes in publishing - gonna be VERY interesting hearing "New York's" Perspective

Mon (night) - having dinner with Michael's agent (nice to have face time with member of our team that is doing so much for Michael's career.

Tues (day) - another full set of sessions - hopefully can get to the exhibit floor - but don't want to miss some of them.

Tues (night) - Meeting with 2 authors that I have a great deal of respect for. Would love to bring them into the Ridan fold - but even if that doesn't come off I'm still going to enjoy a night of talking with people who "get" what is going on with publishing these days. I'm SO looking forward to this.

Wed (day) more sessions and definitely exhibit time

Wed (night) - RSVP only cocktail party with Orbit

Thurs (morning) - Some sessions - but mostly exhibitor time

Thurs (noon) - Michael will be signing Advanced Reading Copies of Theft of Swords in the Orbit booth - if you are in NYC and at BEA - stop by and say HI!

Thurs (evening) - meeting with Orbit's marketing team.

Thurs (night) - back down to DC

Fri - (day) - drive to Hunt Valley MD - and deliver books for Nathan Lowell and Marshall Thomas - probably will have diner with them and thank them for being with Ridan.

Fri -Mon - doing many many sessions for Balticon and meeting/hanging wthRidan authors Nathan Lowell and Marshall Thomas - both of which are kicking butt in the sci-fi space. Last I looked between the two of them they had 9 of the top 100 titles. (Each fighting for #3/#4 and trading it between them. Marshall has already sold 10,000 books this month. And Nathan's new release was #1 Mover and Shaker on ALL of Amazon. His previous "best rank was in the low 300's (319) but this release (Full Share) has been pretty steadily below 200 in the 180'ish area.

So....as you can see - I'm a bit bus right now - but rest assured I'm getting a ton of new content to start posting here - so stay tuned. And for anyone who was at DIY - I really appreciated all the attention you gave me. Check out other posts already here- and keep tuned as I'm sure you'll find posts that will help you on your journey to publishing.

21 comments:

Okay, hold on a sec and let me catch my breath. I got winded just from reading that. You are one busy woman. Robin, good luck with all of your endeavors and be sure to post here soon and fill us in on some of that New York perspective.

Wow! No wonder we haven't seen much of you, Robin! But obviously you've been putting your time to good use.

I regret missing the Arlington Writers Group meeting, but my priority right now is to get my own novel through editing, then up on Kindle in June. So it's been 24/7 here, too. Thanks again for all the advice.

@Judith - Ridan really does not market women's contemporary fiction - so I wouldn't be the right "house" for you. But I'm more than willing to have you pick my brain a bit. If you can be in the area of Javits between Mon-Thurs we can setup a time to meet for a few.

Robin, I'm not attending BEA, only attended DIY. After meeting you, I thought you had an extraordinary handle on self-publishing and marketing. If you can meet me outside the venue, please advise since I live in NYC. PS having trouble submitting unless I under Anonymous. I emailed earlier as Judith

@Moses - SWFA went very well. I went to a great session on doing Television Interviews put on by the generous people Arlington Independent Media (I'll post some of their words of wisdom in a future post).

I also met some great people - Including Andrew Fox (author of The Good Humor Man) who I hope to bring onto Ridan shortly, Nebula Award Nominee Christopher Kastensmidt, Sci-fi legend Joe Haldeman and his wife Gay.

Got to spend some time with some existing industry friends: Bud Sparhawk and Jamie Todd Rubin.

Last but not least, I participated on a panel about self-promotion. While I've done many lectures on the subject this was the first time I've been on a panel so it was great to collaborate and get other good ideas.

Thanks Kate - I posted my first BEA today. The other interesting thing was that prospects are looking better for publishing than they have for a long time. There's an overall sense of optimism with "the bottom" seemingly behind everyone in 2008.

@judith - I'm having a problem finding your email - I'll have some time to chat Thursday morning. Tell me the "day/time" and "address" you posted to (I have a few accounts and thousands of emails) and I'll dig it out that way.